Standout Players From All Teams in Round 1 of the Laois Shopping Centre, Senior Hurling Championship 2026.
Result:
Clough Ballacolla 0-17
Rosenallis 1-11
Standout Players
Clough Ballacolla
Mark Hennessy (10)
Mark Hennessy utilised his pace to great effect to draw fouls in dangerous areas, creating valuable scoring opportunities from frees. He also showed excellent skill by catching a long ball cleanly on his hurley before driving forward, only to be denied a score by outstanding Rosenallis defending.
Lee Cleere (7) – 0-1
Lee Cleere won a mountain of high ball in defence to snuff out danger and claimed several clean catches, including one that earned a free out. His long clearances consistently found the full-forward line, while he fought fiercely for possession and refused to be turned over. He worked tirelessly throughout, with Rosenallis forwards struggling to get past his strong tackling and quick clearances. Cleere also beat two defenders on a driving run to win a free before adding a late point to help seal the victory.
Cillian Dunne (14) – 0-3
Cillian Dunne finished with three points, making a significant contribution in the second half by scoring important points at key stages of the game.
Rosenallis
Fiachra C. Fennell (6)
Fiachra C. Fennell produced a superb tackle to win a turnover, using his physicality brilliantly, with the move leading directly to a Connor Cosgrove free from inside his own half. He also made a crucial block to deny a Clough Ballacolla goal chance and followed that with a massive run from deep inside his own half to win another free for Cosgrove.
Connor Cosgrove (11) – 0-8 (6 frees)
Connor Cosgrove finished with 0-8, including six excellent frees. He converted the frees won by Fiachra C. Fennell and also intercepted a Clough Ballacolla puck-out to create the goal-scoring opportunity that Paddy Keating finished to the net.
John Maher (2)
John Maher scooped up dangerous possession on several occasions to relieve pressure and produced outstanding defending to force wides and deny scoring chances. He repeatedly won quick turnovers and cleared his lines effectively, forming the backbone of the Rosenallis defence alongside Fiachra C. Fennell.
Result:
Borris-in-Ossory Kilcotton 1-29
Abbeyleix 2-14
Borris in Ossory Kilcotton
Enda Parlon (3)
Enda Parlon excelled at full-back, protecting his goal brilliantly from dangerous long deliveries into the square by flicking the ball away to clear the danger. One defensive turnover directly led to a PJ Scully free, while another superb intervention prevented a goal before Scully converted the resulting 65.
Eoin Fitzpatrick (8) – 0-5 (all from play)
Eoin Fitzpatrick delivered a superb midfield display, working tirelessly and showing great determination to win turnovers before setting up PJ Scully for a point. He scored five excellent points from play, including several outstanding long-range efforts, while displaying the bravery to shoot from inside his own half. Fitzpatrick also made vital interceptions throughout, drove forward from deep on numerous occasions and beat three Abbeyleix players on one memorable run before setting up Jer Quinlan for another score.
PJ Scully (10) – 0-9 (3 from play)
PJ Scully finished with 0-9, including three points from play, and demonstrated superb free-taking by converting long-range frees from inside his own half. He also set up his full-forward for a score, converted the free won through Enda Parlon’s turnover and pointed the resulting 65 after seeing a goal chance denied by excellent defending. Another dangerous effort was brilliantly blocked by Aaron Carroll.
Abbeyleix
Aaron Carroll (2)
Aaron Carroll produced a brilliant block to deny PJ Scully before following it up with another crucial tackle to prevent a Borris goal chance, allowing Abbeyleix to counter and score through their substitute. He later produced another excellent block on Scully before clearing the danger.
Stephen O’Donnell (5)
Stephen O’Donnell showed tremendous grit, determination and power with his forward runs after making tackles and interceptions. He also displayed excellent vision by picking out the correct hand pass while under pressure and combined strong defensive work with effective attacking play throughout.
Sam Quinn (17)
Sam Quinn made bursting runs into space and linked excellently with Killian Byrne, with their combination play winning frees that Eoin Fennelly converted. He also created scoring opportunities through clever movement and quick hand passing, helping Byrne score twice from play, while positioning himself well on puck-outs and delivering dangerous long balls into the full-forward line.
Result:
Camross 2-31
The Harps 5-16
Camross
Tom Cuddy (7) – 0-2 from play
Tom Cuddy produced an outstanding all-round display, beginning with a superb tackle, turnover and interception before driving forward to score a brilliant long-range point. His long passing was exceptional throughout, repeatedly finding the corner forwards and creating opportunities for Mossy Keyes. He also struck another superb point from well inside his own half, made important interceptions, won long puck-outs and showed great skill by scooping the ball from the ground directly onto his hurley before striking the ball straight over the bar, it went straight from the ground to a score in one touch.
Mossy Keyes – 0-8 from play
Mossy Keyes finished with 0-8 from play in a superb scoring display. His standout moment came when he beat four Harps defenders on a brilliant solo run before finishing from a tight angle. He also created another goal chance with an excellent attacking run, only to be denied by a superb save.
The Harps
Eoin Delaney (15)
Eoin Delaney showed excellent speed and awareness to get in front of his marker, win a long delivery and quickly pass inside to create a converted free. He also displayed tremendous skill by flicking the ball from the ground into a teammate’s hand while under pressure, avoiding a turnover really cleverly as if Delaney had tried to pick up the ball himself in this situation he might have lost possession, but his fantastic flick into the hands of teamate instead was the most impressive move here to keep possession, avoiding a turnover and keeping a play in attack well and truly alive.
Justin Duggan (13)
Justin Duggan constantly won frees by using his awareness to find space in the Camross defence and drawing fouls in dangerous positions. He also produced an outstanding scoring display by finishing with a superb hat-trick of goals from play.
Cody Comerford (4)
Cody Comerford was exceptional in defence, creating two successive scores for Ciaran Comerford before producing two massive interceptions to deny Camross scoring opportunities.
Result:
Rathdowney-Errill 1-24
Ballinakill 2-18
Ballinakill
Ben O’Mara (10) – 0-5 from play
Ben O’Mara dominated in the air, winning a mountain of possession through outstanding catching. He regularly used quick turns after winning the ball to catch defenders off guard before converting scores and showed tremendous strength to hold off challenges throughout. O’Mara made a flying start by scoring two points from play inside the opening five minutes and finished with five points from play.
Podge Lawlor (7) – 0-1 from play
Podge Lawlor made a huge defensive impact with his pace and awareness, consistently targeting loose ball in midfield before quickly launching attacks. He produced a powerful run before taking a hand pass and scoring from play, while also mopping up loose possession and delivering accurate long passes that created numerous attacking opportunities. His driving runs continually created chances for Ballinakill’s forwards.
Rathdowney-Errill
Eoin Bracken (8) – 0-2 from play
Eoin Bracken dominated midfield by winning high balls and puck-outs while constantly making himself available in space to receive possession. He regularly dropped deep to support teammates, claimed several outstanding catches under pressure and directly set up scores for Jack Kelly. Bracken also contributed two excellent long-range points from play.
Shane Madden (2)
Shane Madden held the Rathdowney-Errill defence together with his composure under pressure. He read the play superbly, intercepted dangerous deliveries on the wings and reacted sharply to loose possession, using his pace and fitness to recover numerous balls throughout the contest.
James Ryan (12) – 1-2
James Ryan’s relentless work rate proved vital, producing incredible tackles to prevent Ballinakill from closing the gap during the closing stages. He battled tirelessly for possession, showed excellent awareness by keeping one attack alive before setting up a score and then reacted quickest to a rebound on the next attack to score a crucial goal. He finished with 1-2.
Result:
Ballyfin 1-15
Portlaoise 2-15
Portlaoise
Conor Raggett (2)
Conor Raggett produced an outstanding defensive display, key moment when he made two vital interventions in quick succession as he first executed a brilliant block down and as the ball spilled back to a Ballyfin man, Ragget read the next phase of play superbly, to intercept possession and calmly pick out and pass to midfielder Sean Luke Taylor, to clear the danger.
Throughout the game, Ragget defended with great composure under pressure, consistently anticipating Ballyfin’s attacking moves and positioning himself well to cut out deliveries. His precise man marking, sharp decision-making and excellent reading of the game combined with his ability to remain calm in possession when under pressure with dangerous attacks, ensured Portlaoise could quickly turn defence into attack.
Liam Conroy (14) – 2-1
Liam Conroy finished with 2-1 after causing constant problems for the Ballyfin defence. He used his pace brilliantly to attack defenders, displayed excellent touch by flicking balls from the ground before finishing from a variety of angles and consistently played with a direct, threatening style. He also finished a superb long delivery for one of his goals.
David O’Mahony (17) – 0-2
David O’Mahony made an immediate impact after coming on at half-time, scoring twice inside the opening four minutes of the second half to help swing momentum in Portlaoise’s favour. He also delivered a superb long ball that directly set up Liam Conroy’s goal, consistently won long deliveries out in front and claimed important sideline balls.
Ballyfin
David Connolly (7)
David Connolly was outstanding in defence, stretching to full reach to win a long Portlaoise puck-out before immediately setting up Eamon Duff for a point from play. His long-range distribution launched numerous attacks and he played a key role in Ballyfin’s second-half comeback, again winning a huge high ball before providing Duff with another score to reduce the deficit.
Eamon Duff (12) – 0-5
Eamon Duff finished with five points and made excellent use of David Connolly’s deliveries, scoring from play after both of Connolly’s superb assists during Ballyfin’s second-half resurgence.
Connall Rowney (6)
Connall Rowney was rock solid at centre-back, repeatedly delivering accurate long-range passes into midfield and attack. He made several crucial tackles and interceptions on Liam Conroy and inspired Ballyfin’s fightback through his outstanding defensive work rate. His interception and turnover led to the attack that ended with Chris Dunne’s goal, while his relentless man-marking forced a wide before another vital interception denied Portlaoise a one-on-one goal chance.
